Well, Mr rhoads if you wish that, no, let me rephrase, if you truly wish that, chances are you will put in a lot of work, get trampled by all sorts of unworthy people, BUT at one point you will succeed! I strongly believe in hard working people more than anything You know, they say talent means about 20% and the rest is work

I was just being a little sarcastic there . I don't really wish that. Especially for the romanian charts. I wouldn't mind, but since rock music is so much listened to in Romania... let's be serious )

I can't believe how many views this thread has got ! I received some requests (on youtube actually) to update it. Really didn't expect this, but I am honored to see that it still causes some interest. Don't even know where to start.. it's been a long time and so many things happened.

I live in Bucharest for a year now (I moved in September last year) and I love it. Sometimes I regret not doing it sooner. Looking back to my life, I can't believe how much I have changed in so many ways. From the way I dress, to the way I talk, to the way I think, to the way I react in situations to everything I can't believe how little I knew and it has been just a year.

The thread title doesn't suite anymore my current situation because I have been working all this time, but as a freelancer from home which gave me enough time to practice. It could have been more, but I got pretty tired "of living in the cave" and I invested more time social activities. Well, there is really a lot to do here than back in Sibiu so without going in details let's just say I enjoyed everything as much as I could.

Now regarding guitar. As said above, I had enough time for practicing and I continued to do it, but changed completely the approach. I was sick and tired of technique and dropped it for other things like: - studying songs - studying solos and trying to understand where the go - ear training, I can finally tune the guitar without a tuner no matter how out of tune it is - vocal training (quite a lot) - gear (finally own an American Strat and Les Paul) - harmony and modulations, understanding all kind of chord changes and how they fit and also how solos fit over different progressions, especially in blues - and LOTS and LOTS of improvisation (using a looper, which I recommend everybody to do, it helped me improve more that anything) - the only technique I have been practicing was using the slide because I want to play Death Letter from White Stripes (actually from Son House), but I still suck at it )

But my greatest achievement in this year was playing at jam sessions. Going to pretty much all the places I could find in Bucharest (every week and sometimes alone) and taking the courage to go on stage and play. Sometimes it sounded bad, but most of the time I could not believe the feedback I got. The authentic applause, the ones that start before you finish playing or while you are still playing not the mechanical ones that start when it gets silent (because I had those too ). Not to mention encores. I played with musicians that I knew and admired before coming here and their feedback was also pretty good. It was a kind of self challenge, to go on stage without having any idea what I/we are going to play and see what happens, try to follow the rest of the band, listen to them and also make yourself heard in the band. It is amazing what can come out.

The only thing I regret is that, since these kind of gigs are somehow spontaneous, I don't have any recordings. Just some photos.

I also tried out 2-3 bands, but didn't get along well with the other members and after some time of practicing together with each of then I quit. Still looking though.

Now I feel like I am at a turning point. It's been exactly one year now of messing around I can say. Because I didn't have a solid plan, just wanted to taste life in the big city and well... improvise. I did if and it was pretty good now I want to do something more concrete. Don't know.. First of all I want to record something, anything, covers, RECs, me with the acoustic guitar and voice.. something to sound good and that I can show.

I also am held back now because I had a surgery on my right knee last week and I'm still recovering. Have to walk with crutches for the next 2 weeks and can't really focus on anything well enough. Its an injury I had years ago and couldn't wait any longer. But I should be back on my feed again by the middle of October.

As a start, I'll try to keep this thread alive. First of all because its kind of a responsibility to do, since it causes interest. I am really honored to be an inspiration for somebody, no matter how far he/she is (thanks J Tom from youtube, I don't know what is your GMC username . Also I think this will also help me figure out sooner what I want to do.

Anyway, looking forward for you comments and hopefully we'll make this even more interesting. It's good to be back here

It's good seeing you here, as well as our short encounters at various gigs!

Your story is very inspiring and I think it's a great idea to keep this thread alive I started singing and playing the acoustic guitar early this year and it payed off immensely - I urge you to do the same - we can share experiences and thoughts on the idea, if you wish, so keep me posted mate!

It's good seeing you here, as well as our short encounters at various gigs!

Your story is very inspiring and I think it's a great idea to keep this thread alive I started singing and playing the acoustic guitar early this year and it payed off immensely - I urge you to do the same - we can share experiences and thoughts on the idea, if you wish, so keep me posted mate!

Well, in Romania this sort of quest would still be a difficult one to achieve, but out of what I know from last year - our friend has made a very important change and he is working from home. Has that helped or not? Is it enough of a change to give you let's say - 4 solid hours of practice/ day?

Well, in Romania this sort of quest would still be a difficult one to achieve, but out of what I know from last year - our friend has made a very important change and he is working from home. Has that helped or not? Is it enough of a change to give you let's say - 4 solid hours of practice/ day?

Well there are days when I can practice 4-5 hours, but there are days when I is just 1-2 hours, and days when I can barely pick up the guitar. I think the average is almost 3 hours.

I read this topic with a curious interest. I didn't see it being a worthwhile endeavour without a really solid plan.Quitting work to go to a music school for a year like GIT, or Berklee, I could understand but to do self study (even with weekly guitar lessons or GMC) I just saw enthusiasm. This was all coming from my own perspective and knowing what I'm like. I spent 15 months unemployed a few years back and in hindsight I could have used the time to practice, learn and record an album, but I didn't. I did practice a fair bit and was in the gym everyday.

So I'm glad to see a more balanced approach to the year came, with the working from home.

I think that in my country, in these times, pursuing a musical career ONLY, is a very risky thing as you never know what tomorrow brings But working from home project based or in some way in which you can make the necessary money to sustain yourself and have enough time to dedicate to music so that you may do it as a pro, that's my game as well and I encourage it. There's nothing like being able to focus on the music you like doing, without feeling like you will starve if you do it.